Thursday, December 27, 2007

Amid the chaos of the holiday season it can be hard to find time to sit and reflect on your accomplishments from the last 12 months, as well as enable yourself to recharge your batteries for the coming year. With all the energy one puts into year-end deadlines, holiday parties, shopping, travel, children out of school, in-laws, etc, by the time January roles around, the renewed energy needed to start the new year off on a high note, may not be there.

To help get you into a positive mindset as you navigate year end, here are a few simple exercises you can do to help recharge, renew, and refresh yourself for the coming work year.

1) Reflection

· Do an objective self evaluation of the year gone by· Describe to yourself the lessons you’ve learned over the past year

2) Appreciation

· Think about all of your accomplishments over the last year· Express appreciation for yourself and the people around you that have made your life better

3) Vision/Planning

· Clarify what is most important to you· Indentify a vision for your goals in the coming year· Establish a plan and the steps you’ll take to reach these goals· Commit yourself to this plan

With all the turmoil that surrounds us in today’s world, in and outside of work; it can be difficult to maintain the perspective of our values, and stay on track with our long term goals. Hopefully these exercises will provide a little help. If you need further help, check out Alchemy’s career services. http://www.alchemysearch.com/html/careers.html

Friday, December 21, 2007

Are you Successful . . . and Exhausted?

I’m working with a client who is extremely successful in her career. She came to see me because she is concerned about why she feels so tired at the end of her work day. Granted she puts in long hours working for an organization that is growing fast, but she is energetic, in her mid 30s, and sees no reason why she should feel so spent at the end of her day.

It turns out that her job, which on paper looks like a good fit for her skill set, is actually a mismatch in two fundamental ways. The first is a misalignment between her talents and the needs and demands of the job. And secondly, there is a disconnect between her values and those of the job and her organization. Her work, she said, feels boring and meaningless. It is thus no surprise that she goes home exhausted.

If this sounds at all familiar, what is one to do? First of all, you need to recognize that using your talents in your work is one of the keys to feeling energized and usually leads to a work day that is easy and natural. You can know what your talents are by exploring what came/comes easily and naturally for you, what tasks and activities energize you, and what things you tend to do and think about when no expectations are placed in front of you.

Values are key to your sense of satisfaction with work. To understand your values, you need to take a deep and thoughtful look at what is most important to you. If you are feeling a sense of emptiness, meaninglessness, or lack of purpose, chances are your values and work are out of synch. Take time to articulate your most important values, defining what they each mean to you, and then asking yourself how you want and need those to be a part of your career.

Knowing and acting on your talents and values are keys to feeling energized and satisfied in your work. Alcehmy’s career services can help you to figure these things out and then find ways to build them into your career. For more information, check our web site for a current schedule of programs or feel free to e-mail or call me with your questions and comments.

Friday, December 14, 2007

I just read an article on the Yahoo Finance website called “More Than One Road to the C-Suite.” http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/071210/dec2007ca2007126784287.html?.v=1&.pf=oneclick. The article talks about how in the current employment market, one doesn’t necessary need to pursue a traditional career path, hold all the usual required step positions, to become a CEO. Traditionally, one would have needed the experience of being a VP, Sr. VP, then President, or COO, coupled with the necessary degrees and certifications, in order to fulfill the milestones of legitimacy for a CEO.

According to this article, these traditions have changed a bit. In today’s job market, it’s possible to get to the “C-level” through non-traditional means. Now, having a strong network, a unique, diverse breadth of experience, a charismatic presence, and strong communication skills, mixed with the right organization, and set of circumstances, one can find themselves in the “the corner office.”

After reading this article, I thought about how this theme applies even more significantly to careers below the C-level. At Alchemy our specialty for placement is the accounting and finance field. These career paths tend to be traditional in the way they view advancement. One usually needs to have obtained the appropriate education and certifications, and well as the required experience, before advancing to the next level, or moving into more strategic/analytical disciplines.

However, despite these traditions, over the last year, I’ve seen many candidates leapfrog positions, reach manager and director levels ahead of schedule, and move into more analytical/strategic roles more fluidly. I believe this is happening more frequently because of the Bay Area’s shortage of skilled candidates. Because there are fewer and fewer candidates available with the specific technical skills that growth oriented companies need, to stay competitive, hiring authorities have gotten more liberal. They’ve been paying more attention to a candidate’s potential for growth and development, versus basing their hiring decisions solely on direct experience and credentials. I believe companies that take this approach give themselves an advantage in the marketplace.

Right now candidates with a proven track record, who are hungry to move up or move into parallel disciplines, should seize these opportunities. Because, as the economy slows down, so will career growth opportunities, and companies will probably go right back to their traditional hiring methods. Learn more about Alchemy: http://www.alchemysearch.com/

Friday, December 7, 2007

I’ve been working with several clients recently who are in the final rounds of interviewing, eagerly anticipating job offers. In each meeting, I’m constantly reminded about the importance of how each person approaches their interviews. This means that how one shows up for the interview may be as critical for success as the skills and experience one has. I’m specifically thinking about three intersecting components: Attitude, Intention, and Perspective.Attitude is the belief that we will get the job offer despite any previous rejections or earlier disappointments. Think about it this way: You are one of two equally qualified candidates for the job. Your competition is pushing hard to sell their skills and qualifications, seemingly confident, but underneath not fully believing they will get the offer. You, on the other hand, believing you will get the offer, are relaxed and see the interview as a time and place to share your story in a positive and compelling manner. You convey an inner sense that the job will be yours. Who gets the job offer?Intention is the ability to be in the moment and not being overly concerned about the future or getting bogged down in the past. It means that as we go through the interview process, we listen in order to learn and we use that real time learning to demonstrate our capabilities. We express appropriate enthusiasm, but do not get overly eager. We tell our accomplishment stories with justifiable pride, but do not feel the need to say any more than is necessary to make the point.Perspective is seeing and appreciating the span of our career for what it is: the good, the not so good, and everything in between, and using that knowledge and understanding to present ourselves as the unique and gifted person we are. A past failure becomes a powerful learning experience. An impossible boss has shown us how to be a better manager and taught us skills in influencing without authority. A merger, followed by a layoff, has taught us how to be agile and resilient.I believe it is important to pay attention to each of these throughout the job search process. As we become aware of these subtle aspects of what we bring to the table, we become more able to communicate with clarity and confidence, thus enhancing our ability to convince a potential employer that we indeed are the best candidate for the job. I will have more to say about these in future blog entries and we address these issues in our training and coaching. For more information about upcoming workshops or individual coaching, please click on the link . . .http://www.alchemysearch.com/html/careers.html